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TARDIS
The Doctor's TARDIS The Doctor's TARDIS was an obsolete Mark I Type 40 TARDIS used by the Doctor as his primary means of transport. Capable, like all TARDISes, of travelling through space and time, the Doctor has travelled in his vessel from the beginning of time itself prior to the Big Bang (DW: Terminus) to the end of time itself. (DW: Utopia) Model and type In his first incarnation, the Doctor implied that he had built his TARDIS himself. (DW: The Chase) It was later revealed that he had stolen it, although this did not necessarily preclude the notion that he had somehow been responsible for its creation. (DW: The War Games) Marnal was the Time Lord who previously owned the TARDIS. (EDA: The Gallifrey Chronicles) The Doctor's TARDIS was referred to by the Time Lords as being a Type 40. By the time of the Doctor's fourth incarnation, all Type 40s had been officially decommissioned and replaced by newer, improved models. All models except the Doctor's had been accounted for. (DW: The Deadly Assassin) The Monk claimed to have a Mark IV TARDIS, while the Doctor had a Mark I. The Doctor vaguely suggested that the two "Marks" were fifty years apart, although he could have been referring to the age gap between the time differential between when he and the Monk had left Gallifrey, or the age gap between himself and the Monk. (DW: The Time Meddler) The Master's dematerialisation circuit was a Mark II compared to the Doctor's Mark I. It was unclear whether this meant that the Master's TARDIS, as a whole, was a Mark II. (DW: Terror of the Autons) Exterior Police box shape Almost all TARDISes were able to blend in with their surroundings because of a mechanism called the "chameleon circuit", or "camouflage unit". On the one occasion on which the Doctor's was functioning, it appeared to automatically choose a form, although the circuit may not have been functioning properly even on this occasion. (DW: Attack of the Cybermen) Other, later models seemed to allow the pilot to choose a desired exterior. Both the Master and the Monk appeared to be able to program their chameleon circuits. (DW: The Time Meddler, Logopolis, Time-Flight) The Doctor showed Adric how the TARDIS could be changed to the shape of an Egyptian pyramid if the chameleon circuit had been working properly, implying that he theoretically could control what form the TARDIS would take (again, if the chameleon circuit were functioning). (DW: Logopolis) In any case, the defining characteristic of the Doctor's TARDIS was that its chameleon circuit had broken after assuming the shape of a police box in 1963, London. It apparently had been working up until it landed in I.M. Foreman's junkyard, because Susan Foreman stated that the TARDIS had previously appeared as a sedan chair and an ionic column, and because both she and the Doctor expressed surprise that it had not changed form when they travelled back to 100,000 BC. (DW: An Unearthly Child) Eventually, friends and enemies would be able to locate the TARDIS because it failed to change shape. The Daleks recognized the police box as the transport of their enemy (DW: Death to the Daleks), as would the Cybermen (DW: Earthshock) and the agent of the Black Guardian known as the Shadow. (DW: The Armageddon Factor) Captain Jack Harkness was on the look-out for "a version of" the police box throughout the 20th and early 21st Centuries. (DW: Utopia) The Doctor tried to permanently fix the problem of the faulty chameleon circuit, not wanting old enemies to have such an easy way to recognise him, by measuring its exterior dimensions in relation to an actual police box and then by visiting the Logopolitans to complete the Block Transfer Computations they would have used to fix the faulty circuit. Due to interference of the Master, he never completed this task. (DW: Logopolis) In his sixth incarnation the Doctor succeeded at repairing the circuit. However, the TARDIS' ineptness at using the chameleon circuit showed itself when it appeared as first a cupboard, then an organ and a set of iron gates which did not fit in with their surroundings on Telos. It shortly reverted back to the old police box shape. (DW: Attack of the Cybermen) Lock and key Entry to the Doctor's TARDIS was effected by inserting a key into the lock, just as would be expected from a real police box. However, the locking mechanism was anything but ordinary. It did not respond to police-issued keys, and indeed would not even open when unauthorized persons used the Doctor's keys. The Brigadier was prevented from opening the TARDIS in the Doctor's absence, because of the metabolism detector on the lock. (DW: Spearhead from Space) Nevertheless, there were occasions on which strangers were able to successfully use the Doctor's key, perhaps suggesting either a flaw in the metabolism detector or a sentient choice on the part of the TARDIS. (DW: The War Machines, Blink, Black and Gold) The external design of the key changed over time. As would be expected on a vintage police box, it primarily appeared to be an ordinary Yale lock key. (DW: The Dalek Invasion of Earth, Spearhead from Space, Black Orchid, Aliens of London, Father's Day, Blink) However, it did occasionally appear to have a more ornate, Gallifreyan motif. (DW: Planet of the Spiders, Robot, The Android Invasion, Ghost Light) The key could also be modified to track and locate the TARDIS, allowing the Doctor to find the TARDIS if it was within a hundred years of his position. (IDW: The Forgotten) On at least one occasion, the key expressed a link to the TARDIS by glowing and becoming extremely hot to the touch. (DW: Father's Day) On another occasion, the key glowed when the TARDIS was about to rematerilaise. (DW: Aliens of London) The lock could be manually secured from inside the TARDIS, preventing even authorised individuals from using the key to unlock the doors from the exterior. (DW: The Dalek Invasion of Earth, Utopia) It was unclear whether the lock automatically secured from the exterior however. There were occasions on which the Doctor or his companions needed to use the key to lock the doors (DW: The Sensorites, Snowfall in the City) but others (DW: Spearhead from Space, The Christmas Invasion) in which the act of merely closing the doors locked the TARDIS. It was possible that the lock could be set secure either automatically or manually. Despite the unique properties of the Doctor's TARDIS key, "master" keys did exist back on Gallifrey. These keys, under the control of the Castellan's office, could open any TARDIS, including the Doctor's. (DW: The Invasion of Time) At one point, the Doctor installed a system that allowed him to lock the TARDIS remotely using a fob (as a joke, the TARDIS roof light flashed and a alarm chirp sound was heard, similar to that used on vehicles on Earth). He was also able to open the door remotely. (DW: The End of Time) During the Tenth Doctor's first encounter with River Song, she remarked that she had witnessed his future selves open the doors of the TARDIS by snapping his fingers. The Doctor reacted with disbelief, but later successfully opened the doors in this exact fashion. (DW: Forest of the Dead) Interior Periodically the TARDIS interior went through various metamorphoses, changing and altering, sometimes through choice or because of other reasons. Some of these changes were physical in nature (involving secondary control rooms, etc.) but it was also possible to change the interior design of the TARDIS as one would change the desktop theme on a computer; indeed the Doctor's fifth incarnation even used the term "desktop theme" to describe this. (DW: Time Crash) The TARDIS was capable of doing this using a variation of the Chameleon Circuit. (REF: Doctor Who: The Visual Dictionary) General Interior Appearance and Layout Using the Architectural Configuration system, the Doctor was able to change and re-arrange the interior of his TARDIS with ease. (DW: Logopolis, Castrovalva) The TARDIS interior walls generally consisted of roundels; circular indentations that lined all of the TARDIS walls. Some roundels concealed TARDIS circuitry and devices (DW: The Wheel in Space, Logopolis, Castrovalva, Arc of Infinity, Terminus), while others function for viewing the outside. (DW: The Claws of Axos) The design of the roundels varied depending on where in the TARDIS they were; a basic circular cut-out with black background, roundels resembling washing-up bowls stuck to the wall, recessed wood paneling with a few decorative ones in what appeared to be stained glass, translucent illuminated discs or hexagonal shapes with nodes in the centre. (DW: The Hand of Fear) Console or Control Room There have been many variants of the Doctor's TARDIS main control room. They usually share common features such as a hexagonal control console, and a set of doors allowing access to the outside via the outer plasmic shell as well as to other rooms in the TARDIS and usually a scanner or some other means of observing the outside. Main console room When the interior of the TARDIS was first viewed by Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright, the console was a bright white room, with roundels on the walls with a large computer bank taking up a major part of the 'back' wall. These computer banks contain the fault locator along with various systems relating to navigational control and navigational piloting and plotting. (DW: An Unearthly Child, The Daleks) This console was removed by the Doctor in his third incarnation during his exile on Earth and remained in his laboratory. (DW: Inferno) The Doctor returned it to its old place later. (DW: Terror of the Autons) The Doctor continued to rebuild the TARDIS console and the main interior of the TARDIS console room using "UNIT funds and equipment" throughout his exile as UNIT's scientific adviser. (DW: The Three Doctors) The Doctor briefly changed the walls of the console room with what appeared like plastic furnishings appearing along the edges of the roundels. One of the roundels served as a replacement of the scanner, a picture appearing in its centre. (DW: The Time Monster) He later reverted to the more traditional design. (DW: The Three Doctors) The Doctor rebuilt the console following its damage by Cyberguns. (DW: Earthshock) He later refurbished it completely, giving it a more sleek, high-tech appearance. (DW: The Five Doctors) The whole TARDIS interior went through its most radical change seen following the TARDIS's entrapment inside the Doctor's family estate; the House of Lungbarrow (NA: Lungbarrow) the console had assumed a more Gothic, Victorian appearance, and included a library. Like the roof of an observatory or a planetarium, the ceiling of the control room "opened", revealing the Infinity Chamber which showed the outside and could display holographic images. The smaller scanner, which resembled an antique black and white television set, displayed other information. (DW: Doctor Who TV Movie) By the Doctor's ninth incarnation, the control room had been changed to its "Coral" theme, giving it a more organic design than the previous console rooms. (DW: Time Crash) It is believed to be regrowing itself after the massive damage it may have sutstained during the Time War with the Doctor making do with anything for its controls and the TARDIS subsequiently intergrating them like the Extrapolator (DW: The Runaway Bride) Hexagonal impressions on the walls had replaced the roundels, and the console itself incorporated many odds and ends ranging from a device resembling a bicycle pump to a mallet used for occasional percussive maintenance. (DW: Rose onwards) The console room consists of a circular room with a red tiled ramp leading from the doors to a hexagonal platform. on the hexagonal platform lies a second platform but circular. The entire room was supported by six coral pillars that met with the top of the time rotor at the rooms ceiling. One of these pillars was destroyed when the Tenth Doctor regenerated into his Eleventh incarnation. (DW: The End of Time) Under the main platform were storage areas large enough for the Doctor to enter (DW: Army of Ghosts), though some were packed to just below the top. (DW: The Unicorn and the Wasp) Due to the violent nature of the Tenth Doctor's regeneration and the resultant damage to the TARDIS, it required time to repair itself. After the ordeal involving the Atraxi attempting to recapture Prisoner Zero had been resolved, the Doctor returned to the TARDIS and, upon seeing the changes to the control room, immediately proceeded to take the TARDIS to the moon and back, in order to "run her in". Soon after taking Amy Pond on board for the first time, the new TARDIS console also provided the Doctor with a new sonic screwdriver, as the previous one had been destroyed. Changes to the control room included a more hexagonal console, rather than the previous circular one and instruments resembling a typewriter, a telegraph and a grammophone. Each side of the console is centred around a different function (steering, fabrication, etc.) There are fewer roundels on the walls, and an area located underneath the main console which houses the heart of the TARDIS and what appears to be an oily substance surrounding it. It had at least three floors such as the lower section, the console room level and the second level, and several rooms, including a library and pool. (DW: The Eleventh Hour) Secondary control room There existed a small secondary control or console room which the Doctor claimed may have been the original console room. It was far simpler than the main control room, with the console resembling a desk, no visible time rotor and all the controls hidden behind what appeared to be wooden panelling. It had more subtle roundels, some of them framing stained glass windows. For a brief period in his fourth incarnation, the Doctor used this as the main control room. (DW: The Masque of Mandragora, The Hand of Fear, The Deadly Assassin, The Robots of Death, The Invisible Enemy) Tertiary control room There also existed a tertiary control room, which was cool and dark grey with a small mushroom shaped console. (NA: Nightshade, Deceit'')'' Specific Control Systems The TARDIS' controls were said to be isomorphic, so only the Doctor could operate them. (DW: Pyramids of Mars) However, various companions have been able to operate the TARDIS and even fly it. (DW: Castrovalva, Four to Doomsday, The Visitation, The Five Doctors, The Parting of the Ways, The Sontaran Stratagem, Journey's End) The Time Lords are also able to pilot the TARDIS by remote control, usually, as the Doctor once bitterly noted, so he may take care of "some dirty work they don't want to get their lily-white hands on." (DW: Colony in Space, The Brain of Morbius) The second incarnation of the Doctor once used a portable Stattenheim remote control to summon his TARDIS to him (DW: The Two Doctors). The TARDIS was also vulnerable to diversion or relocation by the Guardians of Time, Eternals, and other immensely powerful beings such as the Keeper of Traken. (DW: The Ribos Operation, Enlightenment, The Keeper of Traken) For a brief time the Doctor's fourth incarnation installed a Randomiser in the navigational subsystems, though this was eventually removed. (DW: The Armageddon Factor, The Leisure Hive) Other rooms of the TARDIS Sleeping quarters and related facilities Many of the companions of the Doctor had their own rooms, (DW: Meglos), though some lived in previously used rooms. (DW: Terminus) Some companions were seen to share accommodation. (DW: The Edge of Destruction) There were at least 14 bathrooms and a shower. (DW: TimeSpan) Library There was also a library inside the TARDIS. (EDA: War of the Daleks, NA: All-Consuming Fire, The Dimension Riders) Known books included Jane's Spaceships (EDA: War of the Daleks) and Every Gallifreyan Child's Pop-Up Book of Nasty Creatures From Other Dimensions (NA: All-Consuming Fire) and The Time Machine by H. G. Wells (DW: Crystal Glare) The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie (first printing, signed, with last page missing), War and Peace, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and The I-Spy Book of British Birds (BFA: Storm Warning). It probably also contained Black Orchid by George Cranleigh (DW: Back Orchid) Wardrobe The wardrobe was where the Doctor kept some of the clothes from his previous regenerations, as well as clothing for other people. (DW: Pyramids of Mars, The Twin Dilemma, Time and the Rani, The Unquiet Dead, The Christmas Invasion, The Idiot's Lantern). It has clothing from all times and environments in it, to suit whichever time the TARDIS's occupant(s) find themselves in (for example Donna Noble managed to find a flapper outfit when she and the Doctor landed in the 1920s (DW: The Unicorn and the Wasp) and also a heavy fur coat when they landed in the mountains of the Ood Sphere. (DW: Planet of the Ood) Cloister Room The Cloister Room was related to the cloister bell, which sounded when disaster was imminent. (DW: Logopolis, The Sound of Drums, Time Crash) When the TARDIS interior went through a metamorphosis, the Cloister Room became a grand and gothic room with an interface with the Eye of Harmony. (DW: Doctor Who TV Movie) Zero Room The Zero Room was a room which was unaffected by the outside world. It was used as a refuge for Time Lords undergoing difficult regenerations. This room was later jettisoned so that the TARDIS could escape from Event One. (DW: Castrovalva) Others *There was a laboratory which Ace used to create her Nitro-9. (NA: Cat's Cradle: Time's Crucible) *The TARDIS had a swimming pool area which was used by Leela. (DW: The Invasion of Time) *The TARDIS at one point also had extensive utility areas and corridors, which along with the swimming pool area, became battlegrounds during an attempted Sontaran invasion of the TARDIS. (DW: The Invasion of Time) The Doctor was under the impression it had been jettisoned until he stumbled across it during his tenth incarnation. (IDW: Tesseract) *A food machine area was originally located near (but not in) the console room. (DW: The Edge of Destruction) *There was what appeared to be a cricket club and pitch deep within the bowels of the TARDIS. (DW: Castrovalva) *There was a large salon which the Doctor referred to as a "boot cupboard". When Sarah Jane Smith said that it was very big for a boot cupboard he replied, "I've seen bigger boot cupboards." (DW: The Masque of Mandragora) *There appears to be either a kitchen, or at least a refrigerator, in the TARDIS during the Doctor's tenth incarnation. It's unclear if this is the same as the food machine area mentioned above. (IDW: The Whispering Gallery) *There may also be a garage or some similar location suitable for storing vehicles, as the Doctor is known to have at one point kept a motorcycle in storage within the TARDIS. (DW: The Idiot's Lantern) *By the time of the Doctor's tenth incarnation, several rooms from years (and centuries) past still existed deep within the TARDIS, including the cathedral-like room where the Doctor once fought the Master and a bedroom that was once used by Adric. (IDW: Tesseract) Other Systems Temporal grace The interior of the TARDIS was said to exist in a state of "temporal grace", which was supposed to ensure that no weapons can be used inside its environs. This last function is inconsistent in its application. During his travels with Lucie Miller, the Eighth Doctor mentioned that the temporal grace system had not worked in years. (DW: Earthshock, Arc of Infinity, The Parting of the Ways, BFA: ''Human Resources)'' Emergency Systems The Doctor's TARDIS contained various emergency systems, such as the Jade Pagoda, a 'life boat' of some description, which could in theory be piloted (DW: Lost), but in emergencies it will lock onto the nearest (spatially and temporally) planet with a breathable atmosphere and bearable climate. (NA: Sanctuary) The TARDIS also had a system which, when the TARDIS is left adrift in space unmanned, would automatically lock onto the nearest central gravity. (DW: Voyage of the Damned) There were also various emergency settings set up by the Doctor. One was set up by the Doctor as a way of rescuing his companions (but not the Doctor himself) if the Doctor's death seemed inevitable, transporting the TARDIS (with the companion inside) back to the companion's respective time and home. This would cause the TARDIS to 'die' within a period of time without the Doctor and was thus only used in emergencies. (DW: Bad Wolf) Another could reunite the TARDIS with the Doctor if they were seperated; however it required another individual to enter the TARDIS and insert an 'authorised command disk' to activate it in the first instance (DW: Blink, Black and Gold), after which it seemed to have been installed and fully integrated into the ship's systems; the TARDIS automatically commenced the emergency programme without external aid in various attempts to reach the Doctor, who had been trapped in a time-loop. (SJA: The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith) The TARDIS was also capable of repairing itself after suffering a hull breach. (DW: Voyage of the Damned) Defensive Systems Some of the TARDIS's other functions include the Hostile Action Displacement System (HADS), which could teleport the ship a short distance away if it is attacked. (DW: The Krotons) The TARDIS later gained some offensive systems of a sort; although this could have been caused by its development into the Edifice. This weapon allowed the Edifice/the Doctor's TARDIS to destroy Gallifrey, although this was only accomplished by channelling all of the Edifice's energy into the weapons. (EDA: The Ancestor Cell) It was temporarily given a defensive shield utilizing a Tribophysical waveform macro-kinetic extrapolator. (DW: The Parting of the Ways) Translation circuit Anyone who travelled in the TARDIS was telepathically connected to it, thus giving them the ability to understand almost any language in the Universe, even French and Welsh. (DW: The Masque of Mandragora, ''The Edge of Destruction, Boom Town, The Christmas Invasion, The Girl in the Fireplace, The Fires of Pompeii, Christmas Bells) Other Abilities and Systems *The TARDIS appeared to be able to lock-on to the presence of another Time Lord, particularly the Doctor's family. (DW: The Doctor's Daughter) *The Doctor made additional modifications and additions from time to time. For example, at one point the TARDIS was equipped to write computer files to standard earth CD-ROMs (DW: World War Three), and he also at one point modified the control console to accept DVDs in order to allow Sally Sparrow to use a specialized control disc to activate the TARDIS. (DW: Blink) Personality As TARDISes were intelligent, the Doctor's TARDIS had also developed a personality. It had been called "sentimental" and "stupid" by K-9. (DW: The Invasion of Time) Though intelligent, it was generally unable to communicate in words with the Doctor, relying on other methods of communication. (DW: The Edge of Destruction) The TARDIS has also displayed a prejudicial fear of the time-locked Jack Harkness, probably relating in some way to its time travelling abilities, as the Doctor admits that due to his time related senses he finds it harder to look at Jack now. (DW: Utopia) When the Doctor was attacked by Es'Cartress‎, the TARDIS tried to help him in the Matrix, taking the forms of his companions and helping him regain him memories. (IDW: The Forgotten) Although the Doctor was reluctant to believe it possible, the TARDIS seems to have such a strong affinity for the Doctor that it would open and shut its doors when he snapped his fingers. (DW: Forest of the Dead) While the Doctor was away on an adventure the TARDIS hummed to itself. (NSA: The Doctor Trap) The Master's TARDIS The Master's TARDIS is the TARDIS of the renegade Time Lord, The Master, who appears to have had several different TARDISes throughout his engagements with the Doctor. During his Earth-based vendetta against the Doctor and UNIT, the Master used a TARDIS with a Mark II dematerialisation circuit. (DW: Terror of the Autons) Unlike the Doctor's TARDIS, the Master's TARDIS had a fully functioning chameleon circuit. Exterior During his early rivalry with the Doctor, the Master changed his TARDIS into several different forms: * A horsebox (DW: Terror of the Autons) * A white door (DW: The Claws of Axos) * A spaceship (while he posed as an Adjudicator) (DW: Colony in Space) * A computer bank (DW: The Time Monster) * A Grandfather Clock (DW: The Deadly Assassin) * The Melkur (DW: The Keeper of Traken) * A Grandfather Clock (DW: The Keeper of Traken) * A Police Box (DW: Logopolis) * An Ionic Column (DW: Castrovalva, Time-Flight) * Speedbird Concorde 192 (DW: Time-Flight) * An Iron Maiden (DW: The King's Demons) * A Three Sided Column (DW: Planet of Fire) * A Queen Victoria Statue (DW: The Ultimate Foe) On Traken, the Master disguised his ship as the Melkur. In this form, the TARDIS was mobile and it could fire sonic attacks. When this TARDIS was destroyed, he fled in another TARDIS, again disguised as a grandfather clock. (DW: The Keeper of Traken) While preparing a trap for the Doctor, the Master temporarily changed his ship into a police box, then later hid it inside the Cloister room disguised as tree and finally as a brown ionic column. (DW: Logopolis) He would then tend to the doric column as his TARDIS's "default" exterior. (DW: '' Castrovalva'', Time-Flight) He would, though, configure the TARDIS into the Speedbird Concorde 192 (DW: Time-Flight), and later an iron maiden (DW: The King's Demons) and, within the Matrix, a wooden shack and a statue of Queen Victoria (DW: The Ultimate Foe). Interior The Master's TARDIS has had a varied interior. In its first appearance on-screen in (DW: Terror of the Autons), we only see the scanner. Later interiors seems to mimic the Doctor's re-designs of his own TARDIS. (DW: The Time Monster) Much of the time it is simply a sombre black version of the interior of the Doctor's TARDIS, sometimes with specialist equipment such as the Hadron web which he used to hold Adric. (DW: Castrovalva) Specific Systems Once, the Master tricked the Doctor into materializing his TARDIS around the Master's, creating a dimensionally recursive loop (DW: Logopolis) - repeating a situation that had previously occurred accidentally. (DW: The Time Monster)